Brute 286

Chapter 286 

ATASHA’S POV 

Rio’s grip tightened. 

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At first, it felt almost controlled, like he was measuring how much pressure my throat could take before I broke. My heels barely brushed the ground as he lifted me, my spine scraping against the uneven stone behind me. His arm was locked around my neck, forearm braced beneath my jaw, holding me upright like I was nothing more than a tool he had decided to 

claim. 

His red eyes did not blink. 

It was Cassian who moved first. 

His sword cut forward in a clean arc meant for Rio’s wrist, but Rio twisted with unnatural speed, dragging me with him. The blade sliced through empty air where his arm had been a breath earlier. 

A dagger flashed from Rio’s other hand. 

He did not hesitate. 

He threw it straight at Cassian’s face. 

Cassian tilted his head just enough for the blade to skim past his cheek and slam into the stone wall behind him with a hard metallic crack. Before the sound finished echoing, a second dagger spun toward King Xylas. 

The King deflected it with the flat of his sword, sparks snapping in the cramped space as steel collided with steel. The dagger ricocheted into the wall and fell uselessly to the ground. 

Rio smiled wider. 

Then he moved. 

He lunged sideways while still holding me, his boot slamming against the cave wall. Instead of stumbling, he used the impact to launch himself forward, pushing off the stone like it was a springboard. My body snapped with the motion, my breath cutting off completely as my back skimmed rock. 

He kicked again. 

And again. 

He did not run on the ground. 

He rebounded between the walls of the narrow passage, his boots striking stone in rapid succession as he propelled himself deeper into the tunnel, dragging me with him like I weighed nothing. My shoulder hit the wall once. My hip clipped the other side. The cave blurred around us in jagged flashes of gray. 

Cassian swore and chased. 

Xylas followed immediately, heavier steps pounding against stone as he tried to close the distance. 

Rio was faster. 

He twisted mid–motion, one arm still locked around my throat, and pulled another dagger from somewhere beneath his torn clothing. Without even looking back, he hurled it upward. 

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Chapter 286 

The blade embedded itself deep into a crack along the ceiling. 

For half a second, nothing happened. 

Then the ceiling split. 

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A fracture shot outward from where the dagger struck, racing across the rock like a spiderweb. Dust burst downward in a choking cloud. The next kick Rio delivered carried us past the weak point just as the first slab of stone broke loose. 

The collapse began behind us. 

A section of the tunnel ceiling crashed down between Rio and our pursuers, a heavy wall of debris slamming into the ground with a force that shook the air out of my lungs. More stone followed, breaking free in chunks that bounced and rolled, sealing the path in seconds. 

Cassian’s shout was cut off by the roar of falling rock. 

Yet, Rio did not slow. 

He carried me through a sharp turn in the passage and finally dropped back to the ground. His grip tightened now, fingers pressing harder into the sides of my throat as if he no longer needed to conserve strength. 

My vision blurred at the edges. 

He leaned closer to my ear as he ran, his breath steady, his pulse unnaturally calm for someone who had just been bleeding out minutes ago. 

He murmured something, I could not understand as he continued running. 

I forced my hands upward and pressed my palm against his wrist, feeling the heat beneath his skin. It was wrong. The energy inside him pulsed in a rhythm that did not belong to a normal wolf. It moved too smoothly as if something foreign had replaced what should have been there. 

We burst into a wider chamber. 

Rio stopped abruptly and threw me forward. 

I hit the ground hard, rolling once before I caught myself on my palms. My throat burned. My lungs fought for air. 

He stood a few paces away, red eyes bright in the dim light, chest rising steadily as if none of this had cost him anything. 

Behind us, the rumble of shifting stone continued, sealing Cassian and the King out completely. 

Rio flexed his fingers once, then pulled another dagger from his belt. 

“Now,” he said, his voice no longer amused but focused. “It’s just you and me.” 

And the cave around us felt like it was closing in. 

But, I did not wait for him to move first. 

The moment his weight shifted, I reached for the dagger strapped at my thigh and threw it straight at his chest. I did not aim for his arm or shoulder. I aimed for the center, for the space where Rio’s heart should have been. 

He tilted his body slightly and the blade skimmed past him, grazing the fabric of his torn shirt before embedding itself into the wall behind him. His hand flicked up and caught the hilt without even looking, then yanked it free as if retrieving 

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9:08 am Pp po 

Chapter 286 

something he had dropped. 

I lunged before he could reset his stance. 

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My short sword came up from below, angled toward his ribs. I drove forward with everything I had left in my legs. He stepped aside at the last second, his body turning in a smooth pivot that made my strike glance off his side instead of piercing through. His elbow slammed into my shoulder as he passed, and the impact knocked me off balance. 

I hit the ground on one knee, rolled immediately to avoid the downward stab that followed, and pushed myself back up without giving him time to press the advantage. Dust scraped into my palms. My lungs still burned from where he had choked me, but I forced my breathing steady and widened the distance between us. 

He did not chase right away. 

He watched. 

The red in his eyes did not waver. 

“Who are you?” I demanded, keeping my blade raised. “You are not Rio.” 

His mouth curved into something that did not belong on Rio’s face. 

“Do not even think I am this weakling,” he said, his voice carrying Rio’s tone but layered with something older beneath it. “I have worn stronger bodies than this.” 

The words settled heavy in the air. 

He tilted his head slightly, as if studying me from a new angle. 

“It has been years,” he continued, glancing down at his own hands with faint disgust. “And these filthy animals are still the same. They claw and snarl and call it strength.” 

My grip tightened around my sword. 

“They are nothing but supplements,” he said, almost idly. “Fuel to be drained and discarded.” 

My chest tightened at that word. 

Supplements. 

He flicked his wrist, testing the dagger’s weight like he was evaluating an unfamiliar tool. 

“I expected at least some evolution,” he went on, pacing slowly to the side. “Decades pass and you still move the same. Fight the same. Think the same. It is disappointing.” 

My eyes widened before I could stop them. 

Only one kind of being spoke of supernaturals that way. 

Only one kind of creature looked at wolves and witches and everything in between and saw nothing but material to harvest. 

Shadows. 

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